Backpack

ABSTRACT

A backpack has at least one main internal storage compartment which extends over at least a major portion of the internal volume of the backpack and which is accessible only via an opening on the rear face of the enclosure which rests against the user&#39;s back when the backpack is carried. The opening is closed by a releasable fastener such as a zipper, and may be further covered by a flap. A set of primary carrying straps extend from the enclosure for securing the backpack about a wearer&#39;s body for carrying purposes. The front face and sides of the backpack may have flaps, zippers and the like for simulating the front of a conventional backpack, and these may be fake or may provide access to smaller compartments or pockets for carrying non-valuable items.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to backpacks and the like designed to be secured about a user's body while carried, leaving the hands and arms free.

A typical backpack has one or more inner compartments for carrying various items, as well as openings secured by zippers, flaps, buckles or the like for providing access to the inner compartments. Shoulder straps extend from the backpack for securing around the user's shoulders, and waist straps are also provided in some cases. Typically, the pockets and compartments of the backpack are accessible from the “front” of the backpack, or the part which faces away from the user when the back pack is worn. This poses a security risk when backpacks are carried in crowds and in tourist areas, where pickpockets are a major problem. A pickpocket can easily open the compartment without alerting the wearer, and steal valuable items. Because of this widespread problem, users often have to remove backpacks and hold them close to their chests to protect them from stealthy pickpockets. Alternatively, tourists resort to other solutions such as carrying valuable items in concealed pockets about their body. This reduces the convenience of a single backpack for carrying all items which need to be transported.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved backpack which has better security than prior art backpacks.

According to the present invention, a backpack is provided which comprises an enclosure having at least one internal storage compartment which extends over at least a major portion of the internal volume of the enclosure, straps extending from the enclosure for securing the backpack about a wearer's body for carrying purposes, the enclosure having a rear face which rests against the wearer's body when the backpack is carried, a front face for facing away from the wearer's body, and a peripheral rim extending between the front face and the back face, the rear face of the enclosure having an opening for access to the storage compartment and a releasable fastener for closing the opening, both the opening and the releasable fastener being concealed against the wearer's body and inaccessible when the backpack is worn.

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the rear face of the enclosure has a flap which is folded down over the access opening and fastener when the backpack is worn, further concealing the opening and providing a more secure barrier against pickpockets attempting to open the fastener, which may be a zipper or the like. With this arrangement, the zippered access opening to the main compartment of the backpack is completely concealed from a potential pickpocket while the backpack is carried. Even if the pickpocket knew where the access opening was located, they would be unlikely to be able to open it without alerting the wearer.

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the rear face of the enclosure has a perimeter and the access opening to the main compartment is inset from the perimeter of the rear face and extends around part of the perimeter, with a zipper or like fastener extending along the opening. A flap is secured around the perimeter to conceal the access opening and zipper.

The front face of the backpack may have zippers, flaps, straps and the like which are fake and do not provide access to any internal compartment, but which replicate the appearance of a conventional backpack. This would further confuse and deter a potential pickpocket. Additionally, smaller compartments or pockets for containing non-valuable items such as guide books and maps may be accessible from the front face or peripheral rim of the backpack. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the enclosure has an internal wall parallel with the front and rear faces which divides the enclosure into a smaller or thinner front compartment and a larger or main rear compartment. Additional smaller pockets may be provided on the rear face and the front face of the backpack, as well as on the peripheral rim or sides, to carry smaller items, with the front accessible pockets designed to carry non-valuable items such as water bottles or the like.

Both the internal wall and the outer walls of the enclosure may be reinforced to further reduce the risk of theft as a result of a thief or pickpocket attempting to cut the backpack open to gain access to valuables. This will be particularly appropriate for backpacks intended to carry valuable items such as camera equipment, computers, and the like. In this case, the exposed walls and the internal wall may be reinforced by a layer of relatively rigid and cut resistant material sandwiched between two fabric layers. The material may be lightweight metal mesh, plastic, Kevlar® or the like.

The backpack may also have a waist strap for securing around the wearer's waist, for added security. This also provides the user with an option for gaining access to the main compartment and any concealed pockets without completely removing the backpack from their body. The wearer in this case can simply remove one shoulder strap and rotate the backpack about their waist from the back to the front. The pack will then hang away from the front of the user's body, with the zippered access opening presenting itself for easy access.

Since the rear face of the backpack is no longer one continuous piece of material, the weight of the backpack is supported jointly by the front and back, by means of secondary support straps which are secured to the front of the back pack and to the primary shoulder straps. The primary and secondary straps form a triangle with the top of the backpack, providing the capability of carrying such items as jackets, blankets, sleeping bags, and the like.

The backpack of this invention appears to a potential thief or pickpocket to be the same as any ordinary backpack. However, the apparent front-accessible pockets or compartments are either fake or else contain only non-valuable items. This will normally be sufficient to deter a potential pickpocket. The access opening to the main compartment and the access to any small pockets facing the wearer's body will be invisible to the potential pickpocket. Even if they are aware of the presence of the rear access opening or openings, they will be unable to gain access without alerting the wearer since they would have to pull the backpack away from the wearer's body, and fold back the flap to reveal the zipper before they could even attempt to open it, all of which would be likely to be felt by the user. The security backpack of this invention will therefore considerably reduce the problem of pickpockets and the like and allow user's to carry valuable items in backpacks with more confidence.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of an exemplary embodiment of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like parts and in which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a backpack according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the backpack of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross section on the lines 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is rear perspective view illustrating the backpack carried by a user; and

FIG. 5 is a cross section through part of a reinforced wall which may be used in place of the single layer wall in some areas of the backpack of FIGS. 1 to 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 to 3 illustrate a security backpack 10 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, while FIG. 4 illustrates the backpack as carried by a user 11. The backpack 10 basically comprises an outer enclosure or bag 12 having rear and front inner compartments 14, 15 separated by an internal barrier or dividing wall 16, as best illustrated in FIG. 3. The backpack has a rear face or wall 20 which faces the user's back when the backpack is carried, a front face or wall 22 which faces away from the user's back, and a peripheral rim or side edge 24 extending between the front and rear wall. Shoulder straps 18 extend from the rear wall over a user's shoulders when carrying the backpack. A waist strap 46 may also be provided for securing about the user's waist for added stability and for ease of accessibility as described below and as indicated in FIG. 4. The backpack enclosure will be made of fabric or similar material with portions of the backpack secured together by stitching or the like in a conventional manner.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the rear wall or face of the backpack has an access opening closed by a zipper 25 or similar fastener to provide access to the interior of the rear or main compartment 14, which is bigger than the front or secondary compartment 15. The dividing wall 16 may be larger in area than the front and rear wall or may be flexible, so as to allow the volume of the front and rear compartments to be self-adjusting according to the user's requirements. In an alternative embodiment, the interior dividing wall 16 may be eliminated, and a single main compartment may be provided for which access is obtained via the zippered rear access opening 25. A smaller pocket 26 is also attached to the rear wall of the backpack, with an access opening closed by a releasable fastener such as zipper 27. A flap 28 extends over the zipper 27, as best illustrated in FIG. 2.

The zipper 25 which closes the primary opening to the main compartment 14 is also concealed by a flap 30. As can be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the access opening closed by zipper 25 is inset from the perimeter of the rear face and follows the perimeter around the sides and upper end of the rear face, while flap 30 is secured around the perimeter so as to extend inwardly and over zipper 25. A layer of comfort padding 32 may surround the secondary pocket 26 and padding 33, 34 may also be attached to flap 30 as well as the shoulder straps 18, for added comfort of the wearer. The padding will also act to further conceal the presence of zippers or fasteners for access to the main compartment 14 or secondary pocket 26.

An access opening in the front wall 22 of the backpack is closed by a releasable fastener or zipper 35 and provides access to the front or secondary compartment 15 for storage of non-valuable items such as maps, guide books, and the like. One or more small additional pockets 36 may be provided in the front wall 22 for storage of smaller non-valuable items such as snacks and the like. The opening to pocket 36 may be secured by a zipper concealed by a flap 38, and a fastener strap and buckle 39 may hold the flap down. One or more of the pockets 36 may be fake, rather than a real storage pocket. In other words, a simulated pocket may be provided on the front wall of the backpack so that the backpack appears identical to a conventional backpack with storage areas which are accessible from the front or sides only.

Additional pockets 40 are provided in the side walls or peripheral rim 24 of the backpack. These may be designed to carry other non-valuable items such as water bottles, sunscreen, or the like, or may be fake pockets designed to simulate a pocket without having any actual storage space. Such fake pockets may be formed by lines of stitching around a simulated pocket region, flaps, and closure straps or the like.

Since the rear wall of the backpack is not a single, continuous piece of material, unlike conventional backpacks, the shoulder straps 18 are reinforced by secondary support straps 42 which extend between the upper end of the front wall 22 of the backpack and the respective shoulder straps 18. Support straps 42 are attached to shoulder straps 18 at a location spaced a short distance from their attachment to the upper end of the rear wall 20, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2. The secondary support straps 42 are adjustable in length so that items such as bedrolls, blankets, raincoats, tripods or the like may be stored between the upper wall of the backpack and the straps 42. Internal rigid separators 44 comprising bars or rods of plastic or the like extend between the front and rear walls under the top wall of the backpack, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. The separators 44 help to maintain the backpack shape and avoid collapse. A standard carry handle 45 may be secured to the top wall of the backpack between the rigid separators.

As can be seen in FIG. 4, when the backpack is carried with adjustable shoulder straps 18 extending over the user's shoulders and adjustable waist strap 46 secured around the user's waist, the rear face or wall 20 will lie against the user's back. This completely conceals the zipper fastener 25 for access to the main compartment of the backpack, as well as the smaller rear pocket or pockets 26. At the same time, the backpack will still be comfortable to carry due to the padding 32 surrounding pocket 26 and the padding 33 on flap 30 which covers zipper fastener 25. The backpack will appear to the casual observer, as well as potential thieves or pickpockets, to be a conventional backpack with all interior compartments and pockets readily accessible from the front of the backpack. However, should a thief attempt to surreptitiously open and remove items, he or she will gain access only to the non-valuable items stored in the front accessible compartment 15 and pockets 36 and 40. In most cases, this will cause the pickpocket to abandon the attempt.

Even if the pickpocket is aware that additional hidden compartments or pockets are accessible via the rear facing openings of the backpack, they will be unlikely to be able to gain access to these compartments or pockets without alerting the user 11. Attempts to unzip the zipper 25 after folding back flap 30, or to unzip the zipper 27 which is against the middle of the wearer's back, will easily be apparent to the user.

For added security in backpacks which are used to carry more valuable items such as camera equipment, computer equipment, or the like, the exposed walls of the main compartment 14 may be reinforced so that potential thieves will be unable to cut them open. As illustrated in FIG. 5, each exposed wall or front accessible wall, such as the peripheral edge or side walls 24 and the dividing wall 16, may comprise a layer or panel 48 of reinforcing material such as rigid or semi-rigid plastic, wire mesh, Kevlar® or the like, enclosed between outer fabric layers 50.

The waist strap 46 permits a user to gain access to rear compartment 14 without removing the backpack from their body. This is an advantage where there is no convenient place to set the backpack down. If the user wishes to gain access to the rear compartment 14 without completely removing the backpack from their body, they can simply remove one shoulder strap 18, and then rotate the pack around the waist from the back to the front of their body. The pack will then hang away from the body, presenting the zipper fastener 25 for the main compartment as well as the zipper fastener of pocket 26 for easy access to the user in order to retrieve or insert items.

The security backpack of this invention will give the user confidence that they can safely carry valuables in either the rear compartment 14 or the rear pocket or pockets 26, while storing any non-valuable items in the front compartment 15 or front accessible pockets 36 or 40. Potential thieves will either be completely unaware that there are any rear access openings, and thus attempt only to open the front accessible compartment or pockets, or else will be unlikely to be able to open the rear accessible compartment or pocket without alerting the user 11. The reversal of the standard “front” and “back” of the backpack allows the main access opening and associated fastener, as well as any pockets on the rear face of the backpack, to be completely concealed when the backpack is worn. The front face and sides of the backpack are designed to appear the same as any conventional backpack which has access to all compartments from the front. This camouflage will help to defend against pickpockets and the like, who will probably be unaware that there are any hidden security compartments or pockets, and will be unable to retrieve anything other than non-valuables from the front accessible compartments.

The security backpack of this invention may be used by travelers, campers, hikers and the like with confidence in crowded areas such as buses, trains, subways, popular tourist venues, and the like. The secure rear or main compartment 14 may be used to carry larger valuable items such as cameras, laptop computers, radios, and the like, while the smaller pocket or pockets 26 at the rear may carry smaller valuables such as wallets, passports, tickets, and the like. The other compartment 15 may be used to carry less valuable items such as sweaters or raincoats, and the front and side pockets may be used for maps, guide books, snacks, water bottles and the like. This will considerably reduce the problem of pickpockets surreptitiously stealing valuable items from backpacks, and will enhance the convenience of backpacks as a means to carry clothing and personal items.

Although an exemplary embodiment of the invention has been described above by way of example only, it will be understood by those skilled in the field that modifications may be made to the disclosed embodiment without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims. 

1. A backpack, comprising: an enclosure having at least one main internal storage compartment which extends over at least a major portion of the internal volume of the enclosure; the enclosure having a rear face which rests against the wearer's body when the backpack is carried, a front face for facing away from the wearer's body, and a peripheral rim extending between the front face and the back face; the rear face of the enclosure having an opening for access to the storage compartment and a releasable fastener for closing the opening, both the opening and the releasable fastener being concealed against the wearer's body when the backpack is carried; and a set of primary carrying straps extending from the enclosure for securing the backpack about a wearer's body for carrying purposes.
 2. The backpack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rear face of the enclosure has a flap which is folded down over the access opening and fastener when the backpack is worn.
 3. The backpack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the releasable fastener comprises a zipper.
 4. The backpack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rear face of the enclosure has a perimeter and the access opening to the main compartment is spaced inwardly from the perimeter of the rear face and extends around part of the perimeter.
 5. The backpack as claimed in claim 1, including at least one pocket secured to the rear face of the backpack for carrying small items, the pocket having an access opening and a closure for the access opening, and being completely concealed against the wearer's back when the backpack is carried.
 6. The backpack as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least the front face of the backpack has fake closures for simulating the appearance of front access openings of a conventional backpack.
 7. The backpack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the enclosure at least one additional compartment having an access opening at the front face of the enclosure, the additional compartment comprising means for storing non-valuable items in the backpack.
 8. The backpack as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an internal wall in the enclosure dividing the enclosure into a larger rear compartment and a smaller front compartment, the rear compartment comprising said main internal storage compartment accessible via said opening in said rear face, the front of the enclosure having a second access opening for access to said smaller, front compartment, and a releasable fastener for closing said second access opening.
 9. The backpack as claimed in claim 8, wherein the enclosure has a plurality of external pockets for carrying small items.
 10. The backpack as claimed in claim 9, wherein said external pockets comprise at least one pocket on the rear face for carrying smaller, valuable items, at least one pocket on the front face, and pockets on the peripheral rim of the backpack.
 11. The backpack as claimed in claim 8, wherein at least the internal wall and the peripheral rim of the backpack are reinforcing barriers to resist attempts to cut open the rim or wall.
 12. The backpack as claimed in claim 11, wherein the reinforcing barriers comprise a layer of cut-resistant material sandwiched between two fabric layers.
 13. The backpack as claimed in claim 12, wherein the layer of cut-resistant material is selected from the group consisting of plastic material, reinforced plastic material, and wire mesh.
 14. The backpack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the primary carrying straps comprise shoulder straps.
 15. The backpack as claimed in claim 14, further comprising waist straps for securing the backpack about the wearer's waist, whereby the backpack can be rotated to the front of the body after removal of at least one shoulder strap so that the user can gain access to the main compartment.
 16. The backpack as claimed in claim 14, wherein the front and rear faces each have a perimeter having an upper end, a lower end, and opposite sides, the shoulder straps extending between the upper end and lower end of the perimeter of the rear face, and further comprising a pair of secondary support straps, each secondary support strap extending from the upper end of the front face to a respective shoulder strap for providing extra support for the contents of the enclosure.
 17. The backpack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rear face of the enclosure is padded. 